California police say MS-13 is responsible for rapes and killings

By Michelle Nicolosi, Globe Correspondent, 12/28/2002

LOS ANGELES - The Crips and Bloods may be this city's best-known gangs, but investigators nationwide are shifting their attention to MS-13, a ruthless Salvadoran gang formed in the 1980s that has spread to at least 28 states, including Massachusetts.

''MS-13 may hands down be the most dangerous gang out there,'' said Wes McBride, president of the California Gang Investigators Association and a veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. ''They have no compunction about killing. MS-13 will kill a cop at the drop of a hat. They just don't mess around.''

Somerville, Mass., police first noticed signs of MS-13's presence about a year ago, and in October three youths allegedly associated with the group were accused of raping two deaf girls in the city's Foss Park. ''There's definitely been an influx of MS-13 members in the Boston area,'' said Somerville police Lieutenant Charles Femino.

''MS-13 has kind of taken over the East Coast,'' said McBride. At a recent national meeting of gang investigators, ''to a man everybody from the East Coast associations talked about MS-13 being their worst gang,'' he said.

New gang ''cliques'' sometimes are started by gang members who leave California to escape the state's tough ''three-strikes'' law or diligent antigang policing. But many groups claiming ties with notorious Los Angeles gangs often have no direct connection to them.

Most gang investigators and analysts say expansion is typically unorganized. Teenagers or petty criminals who band together may simply adopt a gang's identity. Remainder

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002